The present invention relates to a method for operating an automation device, in particular in an embodiment as a drive control device. Furthermore, the invention relates to an automation or drive control device operating according to such a method and finally to a computer program for implementing such a method, which can be executed by a processing unit of an automation or drive control device.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Automation or drive control devices are known per se. The applicant provides automation and drive control devices of different function and performance categories, e.g. under the brand name SIMATIC and/or SINUMERIK.
With drive control devices or generally with automation devices, subsequently occasionally abbreviated only to “device”, provision is made for a predetermined or predeterminable behavior with respect to external or internal events. External events may be on/off commands of suchlike. Error or warning messages are considered to be internal events for instance. In order to generate a response to such events (the “behavior” of the device), a finite state machine is provided in the respective device which can be implemented in software, firmware or combinations of software, firmware and hardware. The finite state machine links the external and/or internal events according to a decision logic forming the basis of the finite state machine and educes further reactions from the external and/or internal events, at least one respective state resulting according to the decision logic of the finite state machine, which can for its part form the basis of the further reactions. The respective state if applicable influences the addressability of the device when interconnected with other devices. For instance, a device with the state “faulty” cannot be activated in order to control a technical process.
In order to be able to connect a device of the type cited in the introduction with other devices in an external communication system, e.g. a field bus, for interlocked operation, for instance the field bus/communication standard known under the brand name PROFINET, the device must comprise a corresponding data interface. This data interface is usually mapped onto a further, generalized data interface in the device, so that the device can be used with different external communication systems, without interventions into the actual device being necessary herefor. To make a distinction from the data interface for the external communication system, this data interface is subsequently designated as an internal generalized data interface or in short as an internal data interface. The data interface for the external communication system is accordingly abbreviated to external data interface.
The disadvantage with known devices of the type cited in the introduction is their rather limited flexibility with respect to the possibility of operation on different communication systems. Operation on different communication systems is understood here not to mean a repeatedly alternating connection of a device to different communication systems, but instead the fundamental suitability of a device, and thus the suitability of a device type or device class to which the respective device belongs, in terms of operation on different communication systems.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to obviate prior art shortcomings and to provide an improved method for operating an automation device, in particular a drive control unit, on different communication systems with only a minimum of added complexity and costs.